Tire.



No. 654,9I9. Patented July 3|, I900. C. G. &. J.;J..ROBERTON.

T l R E (Application Aug. 9, 1898.)

2 Sheets8heet 2.

(No Model.)

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NITED STATES PATENT?- OFFICE.

CHARLES GEORGE ROBERTON, OF GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, AND JAMES JACK- SONROBERTON, OF LEEDS, ENGLANDyASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO GEORGE E.ROBERTON, OF MONTREAL, CANADA.

TIRE.

SPEOIFICATiON forming part of Letters Patent No. 654,919,'dated July 31,1900.

Application filed 'Ai1gu5t'9, 1898.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, CHARLES GEORGE RO- BERTON, engineer, of Glasgow, inthe county of Lanark, Scotland, and JAMES JACKSON R It: Our inventionrelates particularly tothe class of tires disclosed in our applicationfiled July 7, 1897, under Serial No. 643,720%, and

allowed May 27, 1898, Patent No. 611,280.

g The object of the invention is to improve t the means for securing thetire to the rim of the wheel of a bicycle or other vehicle; and

it may be said, briefly, to consist, first, in con- 'necting the coverof the tire to the rim of the Wheel by means of one or more open ringsadapted to clasp the rim and having the ends of each of said ringsconnected by a yielding resistance, such as helical springs or the likesecondly, in connecting the tire itself to the rim independently of thecover at its side edges by a series of helical springs or the like,

and, thirdly, in connecting each independent ring of a tire constructedof a series thereof to the rim of a wheel by a series of flexible guyssecured at their outer ends to said inde- 3o pendent rings by means ofshort lengths of wire or rod, to each of which the outer end of a guy isconnected, While the wire or rod is connected rigidly to saidindependent rings at a number of different points, the other or innerends of the flexible guys beingconnected to the rim. For fullcomprehension, however,

of the invention reference must be had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this specification,in which like symbols indi- 4b catethe same parts, and wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly insection, of the rim and tire of a wheel construct 7 ed according to ourinvention; Fig. 2, an enlarged transverse vertical sectional viewthereof, taken on line 2 2, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a similar View to Fig. 2,but illustrating an alternative manner of connecting the tire to the rimaccording to our invention; Fig. 4, an enlarged vertical sectional viewtaken on line Serial No. 688,219. (No model.)

"4 4, Fig. 2; Fig. 5, a transverse vertical sectional View taken on line5 5, Fig. 4; and Fig. 6, an enlarged detailed perspective view of theclip.

7 further alluded to.

The rim 10 is of U shape in cross-section and is preferably made of woodor other light material.

The tire is preferably made up of a series of U-shaped rings 11,arranged side by side and inclosed in a loop 12, slit as at 13. A seriesof flexible textile guy-strips 14 are connected about midway of theirlength to the rim 10 by tension devices, and their ends take through theslits 13 and are looped to take over and be connected to short lengthsof wire or rods 15, adapted to fit into the U- shaped rings of the tire,and a clip 16 holds each end of the wire or rod 15 againstdisplacement.- This clip is shown in detail in The tension devicespreferably consist of short rods 17 (over which the guy-strips arelooped) and screws 18, taking freely through the rim and threaded intosaid rods 17, an opening being out in each guy-strip to ac commodate thescrew.

The cover 20 is made of the material usually employed in the manufactureof bicycle-tire covers, and the edges thereof are preferably formed withloops 21 to receive a pair of open rings 22, the ends of each of whichare connected together by a coiled spring 23 or the like, while the tireproper is connected to said flexible rings 22 also by a series of coiledsprings 24, as shown clearlyin Figs. 1 and 2. It is obvious that whengreat lightness is required rather than durability the cover can becutaway, the flexible rings 22 and guys 14 dispensed with, and thecoiled springs connected at their ends to the shortened sides of thecover and to the edges of the rim, as shown in Fig. 3, without departingfrom the spirit of our invention. U-shaped washers 30 take upon the rods17 on the inner side thereof, and soft, pads-31, of any suitablenaterial, such as cork or rubber, are 'providedgto keep the rods andwashers and screws 18 111 place when the guy-stripsbecome slackened. H

What we claim is as follows: L In a wheel, thecombination with the rimanll tire thereof the tire'beingof greater-'w id'th Tthanlthe'rim; of aseries of coiledspringsconv? necting the side edges of said' t'ire tothe ad- 7 1o jacent side edges of the rim and said springs convergingtoward the center of the wheel in a plane at right angles to the axisthereof, cv substantially as shown. r a

2. In awheel, thecombination with the rim 1 and tire thereof thetirebeing of greater'width 25Ttire and"coi1ed 'springsand having its.side'f fedges'connected'to said rings, forthe purpose;

set forth.

the combinationwith the riml 4. In a wheel and tire, thereof, of atpairof open rings circ'nniferentially encircling said 'I-I'lIIl, f3i coiledspring for connectln g tneends of each ofsaid rings a series of coiledsprings connecting the side edges of said tireto said rin s; and a covertaking over said tire and coile springs and 'havin'gits side edgesconnect-ed to said'rin gs eforlthe purpdsstroah. I v55; In'awheeL'thecombination'withthe rim and tire thereof the tire consistingof a series of rings of U shape in cross-sectionand arranged side byside, of a series 0t flexible guy-strips extending from said rim to saidrings; a series of short lengths of wire takin'ginto'the cavities ofsaid rings; aseries of tclipsiadaptedto retain saidshort lengths of wirein place; said guy-strips being connected at their outer ends tosaidshort lengths of wire; and means "for 'connectingthe inner ends ofsaid-gny-strips to the -rim, substantiall-yas and'for the purpose setforth. 7

In testimony whereof we have afli 'xed on-r signatures in presence oftwo witnesses;

' OHARLESGEORGE 'RO BE R'ION. r JAMES JACKSON ROBERTON. WitneSsesz- I H'WALT'ER NELSON,

;WILLIAM DRINNAN.

